Tom Saves Harry

"Take that to him Hed." Harry laid back down the only thing that kept him safe was the ring that Tom had made. He looked up painfully at the wall over his bed. But it couldn't protect him everywhere. His uncle had found that out rather quickly.

As he laid on his bed his blood seeped through his shirt and darkened his threadbare sheets. His blood had been bleached from them many times over to meet his aunt's approval. He only had a little while left before Hermione's portkey would activate. He didn't think that it would save him, not this time.

I'm sorry Tom,

I'm not going to be able to write you much longer.

Good bye my friend.

Harry

Tom felt his eyes begin to burn and sting as he read over and over that short letter. There was a splash of rust tinted brown on the parchment-it was blood, dried blood, Harry's blood.

"Bird, I know what you are you will take me to Harry."

Tom felt as though he was spun in a blizzard before it stopped as suddenly as it started.

"Tom." Harry murmured weakly.

"I've got you my friend. I've got you."

"you came for me. You weren't supposed to."

"I'll aways be here for you Harry, only you."

"Me too." Tom turned to see the little pigtail and curl clad six year old watching everything carefully from a corner. Libby had clung to his shirt as Hedwig transported them.

"that's nice. You're so nice to me Tom."

"Harry don't go to sleep. You have to stay awake do you hear me?"

"Hermione's portkey."

"what is it?"

"phoenix galleon." He murmered as his head lolled to the side.

"no Harry you have to stay awake. I didn't come here to watch you die

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM YOU BASTARD!"

'him?' Tom simply rolled with the information, filing it away for later analysis

"I have done nothing to my friend."

"how did you get to me?"

"Hedwig brought me to you."

"How

"you don't know do you?"

"Know what? Tom what are you talking about."

"your owl is not an owl my friend. she is a winter phoenix."

"a what?"

"a bird of illusion. They are similar to true phoenixes but are elementally aligned with ice. They are birds of fate. They can manipulate the world around them."

"is that true Hed?" Hedwig simply nodded sharply at her master while glaring at her master's suitor. He was far to smart sometimes. He would solve all of her master's problems.

"I told you so."

"Hush Nagani." Both Harry and Tom chimed.

"Who are you?"

"Harry's friend, "

"a name would be nice."

"Tom, Tom Riddle."

"Agh!" harry held his head tightly in his hands

"Harry!" Tom held his friend as tears of pain rolled down Harry's face.

"You made horcruxes?"

"no. I have not."

"Tom…" Harry looked up at his friend weakly.

"but you're seventeen."

"yes I know my own age. What would your point be?"

"wait if you are really you and your seventeen then who is Voldemort?" Tom froze at that.

"what did you just say." Tom prayed that he had not heard the name he thought he had.

"I said that if you really are you who is Voldemort?"

"Harry where did you hear that name?"

"I heard it from Dumbledore."

"of course you heard it from that old goat."

"so you really are really are Voldemort." Harry whispered brokenly. His best friend was going to become the man he was supposed to kill.

"yes."

"he is a remnant. He is a copy of my existence. Hedwig brought me to you through her own power. She has been traveling through time every time you sent a letter to me. It would explain why no other owl I sent you would ever reach you."

"TOM!" Harry yelled as his friend fell to his knees.

"What's wrong"

"there are two of me in one place. One of us will overwrite the other.."

"What does that mean?"

" it's a simple law of existence. There can not be more than one of the same being in the same time. That is why timeturners only last up to twenty four hours. Much longer than that and the two versions will begin to war with each other."

"so why isn't anything happening to Libby?"

"most likely there is not another version of her already occupying this time."

"which means?"

"that her duplicate died."

"he attacked the school last year. I cant go back."

"I will find a way.

"you still have Hermione's timeturner correct?"

Harry looked away for a moment.

"you keep souvenirs my friend the question is not do you have it, it is where is it?"

"in my trunk. Still at the Duresley's

"this was one of his horcruxes. It was the diary I got you.

"drop it into the pensive I want to see what he remembers. Perhaps that will she a little more light on this situation."

"You can do that?"

"yes, a horcrux is only a receptacle for a shard of a soul any memories it has are stored in the object."

"okay." With that Harry dropped the leather bound book into the pensive

"He is absolutely irrational. He is driven by grief. "

"I really don't understand how he can not be you. he was younger but already had a horcrux."

"no the split in my soul preserved my age at the time."

"why did you kill her Tom?"

"it was an accident. The split in my soul simply means that I am aware that a death was cause by my hand. Quite honestly you probably have had more cracks in yours than I you feel guilt so much more readily than I ."

"Quarill and the Basilisk."

"yes."

"so you are saying that I could have made one of those things?"

"no. I know that you could not. A horcrux requires an absence of remorse for the death that you cause."

"my duplicate is an idiot."

"I thought that he had all the knowlage that you do."

"he does, but with each horcrux made his soul looses stability. He may have lucid moments but for the most part he is traped in his own mind. He is constantly reminded of the day that letter arrived with it and with out the option of coming to you he has been drowning in grief. His horcruxes were made in an attempt to escape that pain."

"why would I affect him so much?"

"because, you are the only person I have ever cared for.

"you and I are going back to Hogwarts."

"what! How?"

"on the train with everyone else."

"how exactly do you plan on doing that. I'm kind of high on the dead or alive list."

"Raven Thomas."

"that is an alias Tom."

"and so is this."

"but I am not a girl."

"it will only take a few glamours. You already use them to hide your scars. A few more wont hurt." Tom ignored his friend's glare over the implication of having a feminine figure.

"but what about a finite incantatum?"

"I will anchor the glamour so that it will not fail.

"it will be fine Harry. We will get what we need to done and you will have completed school."

"no Raven Thomas will have graduated."

"not to Hogwarts. The final grades and transcripts are not written by the teachers they are written by the school. The same with the list of incoming students, coarse letters and supply lists."

"How?"

"supposedly by an enchanted quill. But no one has seen it." Harry paused for a moment causing Tom to look back.

"you didn't."

"I just sort of stumbled onto it."

"you found something that has been lost or hidden since the founders themselves walked its halls."

"oops."

"control your luck my dear friend."

"What about sharing a dorm. i'm sure that reall girls will notice that i'm not a girl."

"Slytherins fourth year and up get private rooms. there would be no problems."

"what makes you so sure i'd be a Slytherin." Tom just looked at his friend.

"Who are the two of you?" Severus

"Thomas Marvolo Gaunt."

"Raven Lillian Thomas."

"You will both need to be sorted.

"SLYTHERIN!" Tom smirked, there was never any doubt in his mind that Harry would be in Slytherin. after all it would take a true Slytherin to coerce the hat into putting them anywhere else.

"SLYTHERIN!"Harry shook his head at Tom. his friend would never change.

"fine then Gaunt I dare you to kiss her."

"what?" Tom looked up from his book

"Kiss Thomas over there. Your so smooth, prove it. Kiss Thomas. She's turned down every other guy that tried asking. Good luck your gunna need it."

"none of you should have been trying

Draco wandered down into the Slytherin common room

Tom and Raven were both laying curled up on the sofa together. Raven with her head resting on Tom's chest while Tom was sprawled leaning back against one of the cushions with his arms wrapped around her.

"dont you dare wake her Malfoy." Draco jumped a little at the sound of Tom's voice. Tom's dark blue eyes in that moment looked terrifyingly similar to the Dark Lord's. their oceanic depths morphed into endless abyssal pits that felt as though they swallowed his very soul.

"I'm running out of time Harry. Only one of us can live. I refuse to let it be him. I refuse to let anyone hurt you again."

"what do you mean your running out of time. You cant…"

"using the time turner has been escalating the deterioration. Most likely he has felt it as well but he is too lost in his own mind to know what it means."

"Its all over now." Harry smiled brightly at his friend. the death eaters were done, the dark lord was gone and everyone was safe.

Harry watched Fred still covered in blood, pick up Hermione and spin her around before kissing her. He watched him pull his twin into the embrace as they cried with joy together. Everyone was so happy.

"it is." Tom agreed.

"You were in school this whole time?"

"yeah."

"how?"

"Raven Thomas."

"what about her?"

"it was all his fault." Harry pointed towards Tom.

"if you managed to make me believe that you were a girl for nearly ten years without even trying I was quite sure that you would be able to disguise yourself as one with little effort."

"YOU WERE HER!"

"Yeah." Harry mumbled.

"Mate you are way to good at posing as a girl." The rest of the Gryffindors nodded, most of the boys had noticed 'Raven' in less than platonic ways.